US 10,529,231 B2 · Condition-based lane suggestions for travel advising

Abstract

Users who are traveling on a path between a first location and a second location may be informed by navigation devices about the user's selected route. The path may also feature two or more lanes, which may present comparative advantages (e.g., a toll-restricted lane may present less traffic, and a toll-free lane may present more traffic at a reduced cost). Presented herein are techniques for enabling navigation devices to advise users about the lanes of the path. A travel service may collect information about the respective lanes, such as traffic density and the typical travel duration of users utilizing the lane during various periods, and may transmit information about the predicted travel durations of the respective lanes to the device. Such information may enable the device to advise the user to choose a selected lane, according to the predicted travel durations of the lanes of the path.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of facilitating a user traveling a path between a first location and a second location and having at least two lanes, the method using a device having a processor and comprising:

executing on the processor instructions that cause the device to:
for respective lanes of the path, receive from a travel service a predicted travel duration of the lane between the first location and the second location, wherein:
the predicted travel duration is based on a travel condition of the lane;
and
at least one lane is associated with a lane cost for users traveling in the lane;
compare the predicted travel durations of the lanes of the path to identify a selected lane that presents a comparative advantage for a selected travel condition over other lanes of the path, wherein identifying the selected lane comprises:
comparing the predicted travel durations of the lanes of the path with lane costs of the lanes to identify the selected lane;
choose a presentation condition to advise the user to choose the selected lane;
and
responsive to occurrence of the presentation condition, advise the user to choose the selected lane while traveling the path between the first location and the second location.

7 more elements

A method of providing a travel service to users respectively traveling on a path, the method using a device having a processor and comprising:

executing on the processor instructions that cause the device to:
upon receiving from a first user a travel report indicating a travel condition for a lane of a path between a first location and a second location during a period, store the travel report;
for respective lanes of the path between the first location and the second location, determine, for respective periods, a typical travel duration for the lane according to travel conditions during the period and a typical travel condition for the lane of the path;
and
upon receiving from a second user a request for one or more predicted travel durations of a selected lane of the path during a selected period, provide a predicted travel duration based on the typical travel duration for the selected lane of the path during the selected period and a presentation condition to advise the second user to choose the selected lane while traveling in the selected lane of the path, wherein providing the predicted travel duration for the selected lane comprises:
identifying a lane condition of the selected lane of the path between the first location and the second location during the selected period;
and
providing the predicted travel duration based on the lane condition and the typical travel duration for the selected lane of the path during the selected period.

5 more elements

A method of providing a travel service to users respectively traveling on a path, the method using a device having a processor and comprising:

executing on the processor instructions that cause the device to:
upon receiving from a first user a travel report indicating a travel condition for a lane of a path between a first location and a second location during a period, store the travel report;
for respective lanes of the path between the first location and the second location, determine, for respective periods, a typical travel duration for the lane according to travel conditions during the period and a typical travel condition for the lane of the path, wherein determining the typical travel duration of a lane of the path comprises:
among travel durations of users of a first user set, including the first user, traveling the lane of the path between the first location and the second location during the period, selecting at least one of a shortest travel duration, an average travel duration, or a longest travel duration;
and
upon receiving from a second user a request for one or more predicted travel durations of a selected lane of the path during a selected period, provide a predicted travel duration based on the typical travel duration for the selected lane of the path during the selected period and a presentation condition to advise the second user to choose the selected lane while traveling in the selected lane of the path.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Condition-based lane suggestions for travel advising

Life of this patent

Condition-based lane suggestions for travel advising

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20